Zach Ertz needs to be the focal point of the Philadelphia Eagles offense
Going 7-9 this past season, fans of the Philadelphia Eagles were not pleased with their teams performance. Despite moving on from Chip Kelly, Doug Pederson struggled at times to get this team playing solid football. Part of the reason was lingering effects from the Kelly-era while other reasons could also be contributed to the development of their rookie quarterback.
Either way, next season should be better for this team. Likely to pursue DeSean Jackson in free agency and potentially work out deals to either cut or trade Dorial Green-Beckham and Nelson Agholor, Philadelphia will likely have a all new receiving core next season. That is, outside of Jordan Matthews who was the team’s only consistent wideout in 2016.
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With the amount of change that will be had this offseason, the Eagles offense is likely to rely on another area for some of it’s production. And no, it won’t be the running back position due to their expected changes this offseason. The area that the play calling, coaching and Wentz will need to use to perfection next season is the tight ends. Specifically, rising star Zach Ertz.
Recording a career high last season in receptions while also tying his high mark of four touchdowns, Ertz became Carson Wentz go-to guy midway through the campaign. Adding to positive nature of the tight end’s play, he recorded and tied his career high in the above categories while playing in only 14 games this past season — the least in his four-year career.
Combining Ertz with the rising Trey Burton and the two tight ends out caught the top two combined wide receivers this season. Ertz and Burton combined to record 115-receptions last season while Jordan Matthews and Nelson Agholor/DGB — both recorded 36-receptions — recorded 109-receptions. Now, I’m not an expert, but when your top two tight ends out catch your top two receivers, something is wrong.
While the team will be working to fix this receiving issue next season, the tight ends will still need to be relied on. Leading this charge will be Zach Ertz. With some added talent on the outside, next year will be a good season. It could be a great one if the Eagles can get Ertz involved on a regular basis.
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